What strategies can I use to assist ELL students in a grade 7

math and science classroom?

It became abundantly clear after orientation day and meeting all

of my students of varying backgrounds that I needed to research

English Language Learners and what kind of differentiation I can do to

assist them. There are 2 students in my class who are Syrian Refugees

that have very limited English. I decided to research and choose 4

main strategies that I can implement in my classroom over the next 6

weeks to help these young boys as well as all the other students in the

class. My strategies that I will focus on putting into action are Graphic

Organizers, a Word Wall, Manipulatives, and Collaborative Learning. In

this paper, I briefly explain the reasoning as to why I choose these 4

strategies and how I intend to implement them in my classroom and

negotiate the implications and consequences.

The main difficulty ELL students have when in the math and

science classroom is understanding the content. This is a direct result

of the language barrier. Although in these subjects we are not

assessing students on their reading, writing, and speaking abilities;

these skills affect their performance and understanding in class. This is

primarily because assessments are based on reading and writing

performances. All of the strategies I have selected are intended to help

students increase their English academic vocabulary, as well as their

speaking and collaboration abilities. Having a better understanding of

the English language help increase both students' performance in

school and their social skills in order to make friends and feel more

comfortable in the classroom and community.

Graphic organizers:

Reasoning:

Graphic organizers help students build their

vocabulary and understand mathematical concepts

(Ortman, 2016). Graphic organizers are tools

that explain mathematics in simple English and

are accompanied with a visual. These

visuals help ELL students communicate and

understand new information. The organizers

allow for differentiation and give students an opportunity to show

their understanding that does not require extensive English

(Coggins, 2014, p. 810. Visual organizers give ELL students pictures of

concepts and academic language that they may otherwise struggle

with (Coggins, 2014, p. 79). Graphic organizers help students organize

words, ideas and information, in a meaningful way (Coggins, 2014, p.

79). This will assist students in understanding, communicating, and

remembering essential aspects of the lesson (Coggins, 2014, p. 79).

As a bonus these graphic organizers serve as a great study guide as it

is clear to students what is expected of them (Coggins, 2014, p. 81).

They also provide a springboard for meaningful mathematical

discussions in the classroom, which can lead to enhanced

mathematical reasoning for all students (Coggins, 2014, p. 81).

Implementation:

As the unit begins I will present the students a variety of

organizers to use. This will be done in a think aloud and modeling

format. Students will work through a template with me as they will

have the opportunity to understand how to fill it in. This will help each

student become successful when using this strategy. I plan to use a

variety of different types of graphic organizers: Frayers Model, Venn

diagrams, and a sequential flow chart each serve a different purpose.

Frayers Model was developed to increase students' vocabulary as it

asks them to define the word, draw a picture, and create examples and

non-examples. This will help all students develop vocabulary and are

especially effective for ELL students as they can refer to pictures and

write a definition in their own words. Venn Diagrams will be used to

help students understand the similarities, differences and relationship

between the computations of adding / subtracting and multiplying /

dividing. Flow charts will be used to help students remember the order

of operations and understand why this order exits.

Each graphic organizer will be printed on colour paper and colour

coded for a reason, this reason will be explained to the students. This

will help assist students in their sort, access, and review of vocabulary

(Ortman, 2016, p.14). Students can follow these template or they can

create their own, this allows for a wide variety of differentiation

depending on the student's needs, abilities, and interests. If students

do decide to change the format or use a different type of graphic

organizer they should run it past me, so I know they have included the

necessary components such as; the definition, words that have the

same meaning, a drawing, examples, and non-examples. The graphic

organizers will be a type of formative assessment as students are

continuously working on them throughout the unit. In addition, each

graphic organizer is intended to be a study tool for students to

summarize their understanding and refer back to when needed. Each

graphic organizer is built off of one another and is meant to show the

relationship between the mathematical operations.

Word Walls:
Reasoning:

Olson et.al (2009) explained that key terms should be in a readily

accessible location so students can refer back to them. This helps

students build vocabulary and have a visual reminder of these key

terms. They suggest that the words should be accompanied by pictures

and the first language equivalent of the ELL students. This will help

students acquire academic language in order to succeed. When

learning a new academic language "students benefit from multiple

exposures to new terms in the course of meaningful activities"

(Coggins, 2014, p.22). Coggins (2014) explains that each word wall

entry should be specific, interactive, and collaborative and referred

back to continuously (p.31).

Implementation:
 Located at the back of the classroom, there is a whiteboard that

will be a perfect location for the word wall. I will create a science

section and a math section. As the class goes through our units of

study we will create the word wall together, as we come across new

academic language. The words will be in English with a picture or

symbol on the front. In addition, after receiving permission from my TA

and principal the words will also be placed in Arabic to help students

make these connections. On the back of each word card, there will be

the definition of these terms. I will initially create these cards for

modeling purposes. Later this will become an activity that students will

take part in. For instance, assigning students a vocabulary word and

they must create the card. This will help with formative assessment

and hopefully; students will take more ownership of the wall. The

words will be colour coordinated. For instance, all of the words in math

that have to do with multiplication will be the same colour. Students

can quickly identify key terms when studying or searching for answers

to questions. It is important to have the vocabulary in a readily

accessible area.

Math categories Science Categories

- Adding - Fossils
- Subtracting - Rocks
- Division - Minerals
- Multiplication - Landforms
- Order of operations
- Estimation
Manipulatives:

Figure 1
Base ten
blocks

Figure 2
Decimals /
Fraction
strips

Reasoning:

Working with concrete manipulatives helps students visualize

abstract concepts. Anhalt et al. (2009) found that giving students

manipulatives helped them think critically about their approach, "since

they had to justify' their solutions using the fraction bars (or other

manipulatives)" (p.35). Manipulatives give English learners exposure to

multiple representations of new information allowing the

understanding to be less reliant on verbal information (Coggins, 2014,

p.50). This allows for students to have increased access to different

ways of thinking and communicating their understanding. It is

important that teachers allow students to actively construct their own

understanding and not just follow step by step procedures that are

teacher directed without understanding its meaning (Coggins, 2014,

p.60). Coggins (2014) cites (Garrison & Mora, 2005, p.41), "Relating

new vocabulary to tangible objects is one of the basic premises of

second language instruction. Words are easier to remember when

students can see and touch the object they represent while repeatedly

hearing and saying the new words."

Implementation:

In my math class, I will make connections to base ten blocks and

decimals for the students that are struggling with the mathematical

concepts. While looking at the relationship between fractions and

decimals there are a wide variety of manipulatives students can use

including fraction strips and Cuisenaire rods. I will be careful to allow

students to create their understanding not just memorize a step-by-

step prescribed process. I will ensure this by allowing students to

explore the manipulatives on their own and brainstorm how they might

enhance our understanding of fractions or decimals. In the classroom,

we will develop a routine as to where these manipulatives belong and

they will be readily accessible during all activities so students can use

them whenever they desire. This will serve as a type of differentiation

for all students not just English Language Learners. I will also ask

students for suggestions of materials that they could bring from home

that might enhance their learning. Students can activate prior

knowledge and connect their learning to their home life in meaningful

ways.

Collaboration:

Reasoning:
 Collaboration is a highly effective way for students to learn and

explain their understanding of new concepts. ELL students need to be

able to talk with peers in English to acquire English-language

proficiency (Narbor & Edwards, 2011, p.34). It has been proven that

grouping students in heterogeneous groups give students an

opportunity to explain their mathematical reasoning. This will increase

students "vocabulary retention and expand their problem-solving

abilities" (Ortman, 2016, p.15). This strategy allows the English-

speaking students in the group "to translate' through visual

demonstrations and explanations in simple English as needed" (Narbor

& Edwards, 2011, p.34). This also gives ELL students opportunities to

practice speaking English. Barrows (2014) suggests giving sentence

structures to students to help them form full sentences in meaningful

ways.

It is important to note that some research suggest that students

should have the opportunity to talk with other people in their native

language, "Research supports the idea that English Language Learners

practice learning their new language by talking with one another and

sometimes by mixing or combining the two languages (Short, Vogt,

and Echevarria 2011)" (Narbor & Edwards, 2011, p.34). Barrow (2014)

also recommends to strategically incorporate the student's language

whenever possible (p.36).

Implementation:
 My school has mandated that ELL students are not to be placed

beside each other in the seating arrangement of the classroom. It is

evident that the two young boys are highly distracting to one another

and if they are placed in a group together would become off task

easily. For this reason, I have decided to create heterogeneous groups

for my activities. I hope to incorporate many group activities in math

and science lessons; from labs to escape room scenarios to

collaborating with a group on rich and meaningful mathematical tasks.

An example for one math lesson, I will be having students in groups

playing the game of Life where they have a budget and have to add up

all of their purchases. This will prepare all students for their summative

assignment having to deal with ordering off of a menu and their final

summative assignment; planning a trip. Once I get to know the

students better, creating groups will become easier. My pre-

assessment will help guide the first few groups and these will be used

to inform me on how well students work together. Use of random

generators can also provide a variety of different groups for kids to

work in.

I am so excited to implement these ELL instructional strategies in

the classroom. It is my hope that all students will benefit from these as

they assist in building vocabulary development, study skills,

mathematical reasoning, problem-solving, and visualization.

Throughout my practicum, I will reflect upon these strategies based on

students understanding and engagement; making changes

accordingly. It is my plan to reflect on these changes and add to this

document as I experience implementing these into the classroom.

References

Anhalt, C., Farias, L., Farias, S., Olivas, J., & Ulliman, M. (2009).

Teaching Math to ELL Students. Leadership, 38(5), 34-36

Barrow, M.A. (2014). Even math requires learning academic language.

Phi Delta Kappan, 95(6), 35-38.

Coggins, D. (2014). English learners in the mathematics

classroom(Second ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, a SAGE

Company.

Furner, J.M., Yahya, N., & Duffy, M.L. (2005). Teach Mathematics:

Strategies to Reach All students. Intervention In School & Clinic,

41(1), 16-23.

Nabors, M.L., & Edwards, L. C. (2011). Science: A Second Language for

ELL Students. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 47(3), 133-136.

Olson, J. K., Levis, J. M., Vann, R., & Bruna, K. R. (2009). Enhancing

Science for ELLs: Science Strategies for English Language

Learners that benefit all students. Science & Children ,46-48.

Retrieved February 14, 2017.

Ortman, L. (2016). Strategies to Guide ELLs in Learning Math. New

Teacher Advocate, 24(1), 14-15.